A Florida nursing home's Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements can't be stopped during its appeal of its bankruptcy case, a federal judge ruled Monday.

The ruling extends a stay of an earlier court ruling that would have allowed Bayou Shores SNF LLC's provider agreements to be cut by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

The company, which operates the Rehabilitation Center of St. Petersburg, obtained a restraining order against the original ruling in July 2014, stating it would force the facility to close its doors. The case has since bounced between courts, with Bayou Shores attempting to extend the stay and CMS and FAHCA arguing that the bankruptcy court doesn't have the power to halt termination of provider agreements.

In Monday's ruling, Judge James S. Moody of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida said the stay will continue “for the duration of the case.” As part of the ruling, Bayou Shores will not be able to admit any new Medicare or Medicaid patients while its bankruptcy case is pending.

About 60,000 elderly or disabled Medicaid recipients in Louisiana are being told they should expect to lose their benefits in July, and advocates say more than a quarter of them could be forced out of the long-term care facilities they call home.